


Staunch Shield

by ttacticianmagician



Series: Belated Dedue Week 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Dedue Week (Fire Emblem), Gen, Humor, NG+, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Rated T for swearing, ooc byleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttacticianmagician/pseuds/ttacticianmagician
Summary: Byleth gives Dedue the Aegis Shield.Written for Dedue Week 2020 Day 1: Shield
Series: Belated Dedue Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605457
Kudos: 16





	Staunch Shield

"Professor, what is this?"

Byleth had, in her outstretched arms, an orange glowing slab made of metal(?). Sweeping, curved lines adorned its front that led to a circular inset. In that inset was a red stone with an angular symbol carved in it. Even if Dedue didn't recognize the object itself, he recognized that Crest from his many sparring bouts with Felix.

"It's the Aegis Shield." Byleth stated plainly.

"I can see that." Dedue stared down at it. The shield's menacing aura made his skin crawl. This was not something to be used by a Crestless mortal like himself.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because," the professor became slightly more gleeful, "with this, your defenses will be through the roof. Nothing will be able to stop you. And we don't have money for a nice shield, so we have to make do with what we have."

Dedue was sure that they had plenty of money, but he didn't dare argue back. Byleth probably meant that she didn't want to spend gold when she didn't need to. 

But she did need to, in this case. "Professor, you do recall what happens when a Crestless person uses a Hero's Relic for too long…?"

"Of course I remember. That's why I'm also giving you this."

Byleth set aside the shield for a moment to fish something out of her cloak. She tossed him a spherical stone that had the Crest of Fraldarius etched on it. It was nearly identical to the stone set in the Aegis Shield. The only differences were that it was blue instead of red and it didn't creep him out when he held it.

"What is this?" He asked, more puzzled than ever.

"It's a Shield Dragon Sign. Don't ask me where I got it from. I can't tell you, even if I knew."

Dedue just stared at Byleth. Shield Dragon Sign? He knew what those three words meant individually, but when strung together, they made no sense. Nothing that the professor just said many any sense.

"This will allow me to wield the Aegis shield?"

"Of course. I wouldn't give it to you if it didn't."

"I suppose thanks are in order." Dedue pocketed the stone before taking the shield from Byleth. It was surprisingly light for its size, and now that he had the Shield Dragon Sign in his possession, its smouldering aura didn't bother him at all. It was just a normal shield now. Only stronger and weirder and… twitchier?

"One last question." He actually had many questions, but this one was the most important and the least likely to test his patience. "Doesn't the Aegis Shield belong to Felix? Is he alright with letting me use it?"

Byleth shrugged. "He didn't want to use it. He lent it to me, saying that he trusted my judgement."

"I… see…" Dedue wondered if Felix needed to reassess the professor.

"Anyway, the battle is about to begin soon. Don't disappoint me, Dedue!" Byleth slapped him on the shoulder.

* * *

For the next several moons, tales of the man of Duscur with the impenetrable shield spread across Fodlan. People came up with many reasons as to how he came into existence. Some say that he was an illegitimate child of House Fraldarius, who stole what was rightfully his to aid in his crusade of justice. Others whisper that he was a powerful magician with a shield enchanted to look like the Hero's Relic, only even more powerful. And others claim that he was a Demonic Beast who managed to turn back into a human, but kept his brute strength and a large, sturdy scale to use as a shield.

Few knew that this man was actually a student at Garreg Mach, who only took up the Aegis Shield to protect His Highness from all harm. And to satisfy Byleth enough to earn good grades.

Dimitri of course had qualms about this strategy at first, but he couldn't argue with results. Felix was a bit jealous of the attention he was garnering, but conceded that it was his fault for giving up the shield in the first place.

Dedue trudge on. He marched alongside his classmates against bandits, monsters, and Imperial soldiers. He protected them against every blow so his friends would live to fight another day.

Except magic. He still couldn't withstand magic very well.

And he also couldn't stop his professor from falling into a ravine.

* * *

Byleth searched the armory frantically for the Aegis Shield. It's been five years since she last been here, but she was certain that this was where she put it last. To her, the battle for Garreg Mach was only a few days ago. Her memories of the preparation was still fresh in her mind.

"Professor?" Mercedes poked her head through the door. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm looking for the Aegis Shield." Byleth replied as she rummaged through a stack of rusty normal shields. Their clattering almost drowned out Mercedes's response.

"You mean the Hero's Relic? The last time I saw it, you had given it to Dedue."

"And Dedue is…"

The realization hit Byleth like a sack of bricks. "Fuck."

**Author's Note:**

> I gave Dedue the Aegis Shield in my BL playthrough because Felix, as a dodge tank, didn't need it. I was aware of what happens to Dedue when the timeskip happens so I didn't leave it on him like this fic suggests. But my Dedue got RNG screwed so he wasn't as effective as this fic implies, even with the Aegis shield. RIP


End file.
